April 21, 2025
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The Forgotten and Lonely Change – Agents

Ihesiulo Grace
By Reuben Abati Somehow, Nigerians seem to have forgotten some of the valiant men and women who sought to take over the governance of Nigeria at the highest level and who campaigned vigorously for change and progress. The 2019 general election is probably the most intense in Nigerian history, with the largest number of voters […]
Columnist

Nigeria 2019: Have we learnt any lessons?

Ihesiulo Grace
By Reuben Abati The 2019 general election in Nigeria has been described by international and local observers, stakeholders, direct participants and the electorate themselves as a “disappointment”, “ a bad day for democracy”, “a step back from whatever Nigeria may have achieved since the return to civilian rule,” “a shameful exercise”, “below par”, “an affront […]
Columnist

Nigeria 2019: Notes from the field

Ihesiulo Grace
By Reuben Abati Whoever came up with the wise saying that Nigerian politics is dirty deserves an award for perspicacity. I have just returned from that dirtied, muddled up, confused, uncertain, unpredictable zone of Nigerian life and society with truck loads of stories in my head and enough impressions in my mind to last me […]
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Atiku: An Omen Worse Than Defeat

Ihesiulo Grace 0
As the final results of last week’s presidential poll were released, three broad groups emerged: Those genuinely surprised that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, lost; those in pretentious denial of his defeat; and those in a quandary because they hoped to profit from a stalemate. The first group comprise those who expected […]
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Mahmood Yakubu’s second chance

Ihesiulo Grace 0
Azu Ishiekwene Last week, when I described the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, as one of the most frequently executed men on social media, I had no idea what was coming. About 48 hours later – and after weeks, if not months of repeatedly assuring the public that the commission […]
Columnist

Odinga-US Hypocrisy As Bitter Medicine

Ihesiulo Grace 0
Azu Ishiekwene These days Nigeria is treated as either the continent’s worst joke or the world’s laggard for democracy. From Nairobi to Brussels and from London to Washington, we’re getting lengthy lectures on how not to run a country. And we’re laughing them off and forwarding the messages. There’s a stinging joke about corruption in […]
Columnist

The Onnoghen case and other stories

Ihesiulo Grace 0
By Reuben Abati I find it incredulous that a ruling government that seeks a second term in office and about which doubts have been expressed with regard to its performance, the competence of its officials and the quality of its service delivery would embark on a series of self-immolating adventures that can only further alienate […]
Columnist

Obasanjo: Wages of the old soldier’s rage

Ihesiulo Grace 0
At this rate, President Muhammadu Buhari may beat former military President General Ibrahim Babangida to the record of collecting the most abusive letters from a former president. Olusegun Obasanjo’s letters to Babangida were unforgettable. He accused Babangida of every conceivable evil, among which foisting an economic programme on Nigerian that lacked a human face and
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Ogun politics: My encounter with violence

Ihesiulo Grace 0
I once had a taste of political violence during the 2015 Presidential campaigns. In Bauchi, our convoy was stoned. In Katsina, restless youths wielding stones and long sticks threatened to attack us. It didn’t matter that it was a Presidential convoy. But nothing in those two places is comparable to what I experienced in Sagamu, […]
Columnist

2019: A Profile of the X-Factors

Ihesiulo Grace 0
The general election in 51 days will be different from previous ones in nearly two decades in many ways. Money is one way. At this time in a “normal” election cycle, politicians would be in a rat race to outspend one another. After four years of largely empty promises, they suddenly discover that they need […]
Columnist

A Letter To Ikeogu

Ihesiulo Grace 0
I didn’t want to write this week. It wasn’t writer’s block or the occasional frustration from sounding like a broken record. It was not the feeling of speaking to the Nigeria wall, either. Nothing of the sort. It was the call, Ikeogu. The call from your sister, Ada, on Saturday night. The call shattered me […]